Stella
I wake to the sound of pounding. My mother is pounding groundnuts. She’s singing, her song keeping time with her...
read morePhoto: L to R:Bishop Alan McGuckian, (Down & Connor), Cardinal Vincent Nicholls, President Santa Marta group & Bishop Fintan Gavin, (Cork & Ross).
It was valuable to have joined so many collective leadership voices at An Garda Siochana & Santa Marta Leadership Summit. With presentations from Helen McEntee, TD, Minister for Justice Ireland; An Garda Siochana Commissioner Drew Harris; Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, PSNI; Director James C. Harris, US Homeland Security Investigations and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President Santa Marta Group each of whom spoke about their respective work to combat the crime of human trafficking, and who hopefully will share their respective presentations in due course.
It was the input from Sir Iain Livingstone, Trustee of the Santa Marta Group in his address immediately before lunch on Wednesday 26 June 2024 which contextualised the presentations and motivations of all present at the conference.
Sir Iain called for mutual understandings of each agency present. He spoke about the importance of collective application to the mission to combat human trafficking and exploitation. He challenged us to ask ourselves and one another ‘’Where can we widen conversations?’’ and ‘’How can we widen conversation?’’ These questions he said must be predicated upon appreciation of and acceptance of our agencies as ‘’Networks of humanity, Networks of Integrity and Networks of Commitment.’’
The input by Kevin Hyland, Global Strategic Director of Santa Marta Group, covered the Six Priorities in the Strategic Plan 2023-2026+
The overall aim of the Santa Marta Group is “to encourage partners across the world to work collaboratively to end human trafficking and modern slavery”.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ introduction highlighted the fact that “things are getting worse” with regards to the crime of human trafficking and that we must “encourage each other, deepen our relationships and deepen our sense of common purpose.” The Cardinal distinguished between Human Rights parlance and Human Dignity which is innate in each of us.
For full report: Santa Marta An Garda Siochana Leadership Summit June 26 27 Cork 2024 (1).pdf